


Prophecy Brothers and the Sorcerer's Stone

by Mythwriter



Series: Brothers of the Prophecy [1]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Delayed Prophecy, Lily and James live AU, Other, what if...
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-12
Updated: 2018-04-12
Packaged: 2019-04-22 00:51:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14297190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mythwriter/pseuds/Mythwriter
Summary: What if? What if Lily and James lived? What if the prophecy was delayed? What if Neville didn't live in a situation of abuse? The Harry Potter universe has a wrench thrown in it as we explore a completely different way the story could have gone.





	Prophecy Brothers and the Sorcerer's Stone

The sign chipped, almost illegible and faded so badly that it could have just been another piece of trash or worn out bit of graffiti on the brickwork to any passerby, had any normal passerby stopped to look to closely. But, why would they? Purge and Dowse Ltd. had been out of business for as long as anyone could remember, and as far as anyone passing by there this day or the next would think, it would always be there. Then again, to anyone who was not a muggle, a small step through a window changed all that.

In the neat and clean main lobby, filled with as much noise as the street and busy even at this time of night, a wide berth was given to the woman with a baby in the far corner, her vulture topped hat proving effective in expanding her personal bubble. Or perhaps it was the scowl permanently etched into her face. Today, that scowl seemed to double, dragging down her face. The baby in her arms gurgled every now and again, as a baby does, but remained surprisingly quiet as green-robed wizard after green-robed wizard stepped past. Their logos, a wand crossed with a bone in a contrasting white, stood out against the dark green of their robes, catching Augusta’s eyes every single time. It was annoying. It was taking too long.

“You there,” Augusta snapped.

A young woman in that dark green St. Mungo’s robe stopped, almost jumping at the voice, turning to the woman. Augusta’s pointed glare had the woman nearly edging back with her clipboard.

“What is going on? Why haven’t I heard anything? I have been here for hours, and nothing.”

The woman looked down at her clipboard, flipping through the pages as she talked.

“What’s your name, madam?”

“Augusta Longbottom.”

Paper riffled back and forth, until the woman stopped on one near the top. Reading over it, her eyes went wide, a look of shock and horror coming to her face as she glanced away from the paper at the small bundle in Augusta’s arms.

“T-that will be something the doctor needs to tell you. Wait here.”

She rushes off, not pausing or looking back as Augusta tried to make her stay, make her tell her what she knew.

Two newcomers fazed through the door of the main lobby, at first, nothing more than two heads of hair. But how recognizable hair could be. First was the head of bright red, maybe a few gray hairs, but long and eye-catching under the florescent lights. The next was unruly, to the point of embarrassment, sticking up in every direction and bowing out of sight every now and then to attend to something below. Then they turned the corner, around a row of ailing people and wandering nurses.

“Isn’t this a sight. I didn’t expect you two to show up so soon. Most of the others won’t be here until the morning,” Augusta said, looking up as the two came closer.

Lily and James Potter looked back at her, strained smiles and worried, tear wrung eyes. James was toting a carrier, the type that circled around his shoulders, with a wiggle worm of a baby, the same age as Augusta’s own bundle, worrying away and taking up half of James’ attention.

“How are you holding up? Any news?” Augusta didn’t immediately answer the question, instead holding out her bundle in an unasked gesture.

Lily immediately took the bundle, holding it to her and cooing down at the little tame face of a baby.

“He’s been rather quiet, Neville has. But that’s about the only pleasant thing about this. Nobody is telling me anything.”

“Well,” James said, sitting down with Harry on Lily’s other side, “I think someone is coming now. Looks important.”

Sure enough, as the three turned to look, a woman in a long light blue cloak, stern and taller with the young assistant in green following her, approached the small group. Stopping in front of them, she took a second to take them in, eyes falling on Augusta last.

“Mrs. Longbottom, would you kindly follow me?”

Augusta stood, barely making any difference in her height, and went to follow the doctor toward a back room, away from the ears in the room.

“Wait. We’ll come with you.”

“James.”

“I want to hear this too. They’re our friends, Lily. We should know too. Maybe we can help.”

“Stay here”, Augusta said, without turning her head back to them.

With that she walked past the doctor, who looked torn, leaving the two young parents, but turned and set off in stride toward the far end of the lobby, ducking into a hallway that led off toward intensive care rooms. They disappeared in the traffic of green and light blue.

\--------

“That woman is as distant as ever. Looked like she was holding a loaf of stale bread. God, forbid she have to hold her grandson”, James said as the vulture…both vultures, disappeared from sight.

Said “loaf of bread” had stayed rather calm, like he had seen quite too much in his young life already. Lily didn’t like how quiet Neville was in the least, nor how Augusta always treated him. Oh, she’d heard the stories, too many from Frank and Alice both. Not that she’d ever say out loud like James so often did, but it truly seemed as if Frank and Alice had been the only sane Longbottoms’ of the lot.

“Let’s just hope that she doesn’t have to hold him much longer. Neville always was much happier in his mother’s arms”, Lily said.

James nodded in reply, scooting closer to let Harry and Neville see each other. Harry, giggly as ever, seemed to wave from his carrier.

\--------

Blank eyes and the quiet of the room hit them as they stepped in, two beds, pushed close together were all that were in the room aside from the equipment that a few assistants and doctors buzzed around. Still, those glassy, non-seeing eyes were as unnerving as the doctor said they’d be.

“Gone, maybe not in body, but their minds are shattered. It won’t be an easy recovery, if they recover at all,” the doctor said.

Augusta’s eyes nearly bored into the sight before her, but showed no expression.

“We have some experts coming in to- “, the doctor started, but stopped.

Augusta, hand raised to stop the doctor’s prattling, took another minute to look at the scene before her before she turned from the room.

“Any sort of treatment will be billed to me, and any needs will be taken care of by your staff. Understood?”

“I…yes, madam.”

With that Augusta left the room, her mind turning from the room entirely as she ran over the prospects of the loose ends her son and daughter-in-law left behind.

\--------

One Month Later…

“And lastly, the addressing of their son’s care”, a small mustached wizard said.

The little man stood on a chair in front of a group of Longbottoms and Order members alike, all eyes on him. With the address of the house and the few belongings they had left to Order members and family, now came a part only one person in the room had been expecting. Lily Potter glanced over to where Augusta sat, a stroller with a small whine coming from it left almost entirely untouched during the preceding. Her face seemed to scrunch up even more as the little wizard had rambled on, but now her face seemed blank, she looked as unsurprised as Lily was.

“The care of one Neville Longbottom, son of Frank and Alice Longbottom, is hereby placed in the care of his godparents, James and Lily Potter, till he comes of age. All assets tied to his name shall be placed under their care until Neville has come of age, or until control of said assets is handed over by his caretakers.”

For a moment, only silence filled the room. Then every person bearing the name Longbottom seemed to cry out in an awful uproar.

“-one of our-“

“-take care of him-“

“-bunch of bull-“

“-how could they-“

Augusta remained seated, a hand now almost white knuckled on the handle of the stroller in front of her. When the clamor finally started to subside, Longbottoms sitting down with disgruntled looks as the small wizard man on the chair held his hand for quiet, Augusta stood. While this did nothing to change her height, it was enough to draw eyes to her. She pushed to stroller forward, a slow pace, all the way across the room to where Lily sat, their eyes never leaving each other as Augusta seemed to glare down at her. Lily squared her shoulders, but remained seated, even as she felt Lupin tense up next her, in case he needed to help stop an argument. The stroller stopped in front of her, and almost as quickly as she let go of it, Augusta turned from it, and started her slow hobble toward the door.

“Don’t make him a failure”, Augusta said.

Lily looked back at her, she to pick the fussing Neville from his stroller and into her arms. Squaring her shoulders as she rocked Neville to calm him down, Lily turned fully to where Augusta was leaving.

“A child is never a failure, Augusta. I’d say the only one who can fail is a parent”, Lily said.

Augusta’s steps faltered, stopping her in the aisle, but just as quickly started up again. With a single hand wave, the other members of the Longbottom family were filing out behind her, gone without another word.

“I don’t think that earned us any good relations with the Longbottoms”, Lupin said, without an ounce of regret in his voice.

He stood next to Lily, grabbing the last few blankets out of the stroller and folding the stroller.

“James is rubbing off on me. Frank and Alice were the only Longbottoms that ever seemed to have good relations with us anyway. You don’t mind carrying that along the way?”

“Not at all. Best be getting back anyway. Who knows what those two have been getting up to. Last time they were babysitting alone, didn’t they almost blow up your television?”

“Yes, and I saw Sirius eyeing the microwave before I walked out the door. Let’s hope that doesn’t turn out like the radio did.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! Thanks for reading!  
> Any kudos and comments are appeciated. I'd love some constructive feedback too, if you're willing to give it. I've never written fanfic before so knowing if something is off is always helpful.  
> No set schedule as of now, sorry about that, but hopefully one to come in the future.


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